John Dowd Resigns As Trump's Lead Lawyer In Russia Probe

John Dowd resigned Thursday as President Donald Trump’s lead attorney assigned to deal with the Russia probe, Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s personal lawyers, confirmed to HuffPost.

“John Dowd is a friend and has been a valuable member of our legal team,” Sekulow said in a statement. “We will continue our ongoing representation of the President and our cooperation with the Office of Special Counsel.”

“I love the president, and I wish him well,” Dowd told NPR on Thursday.

Dowd, who took over Trump’s legal team when attorney Marc Kasowitz departed in July, had encouraged Trump to cooperate with Mueller. Instead, Trump has repeatedly attacked Mueller’s credibility on Twitter in recent weeks.

Dowd’s resignation comes just days after Trump added former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova to his legal team. The addition of diGenova, who has accused the FBI and Justice Department of trying to frame Trump in the Russian collusion probe, marks a more aggressive legal strategy in the handling of Mueller’s investigation.

Rumors of Dowd’s imminent departure have been swirling for several months. The Times reported earlier this month that Trump hoped to add to his legal team Emmet Flood, a veteran Washington attorney who represented President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s during his impeachment hearings. Trump immediately denied the report and tweeted that he was “VERY happy” with his legal team.

A representative for the White House declined to comment, while a request for comment from Dowd was not immediately answered.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misidentified Sekulow as the White House counsel. Don McGahn is the current White House counsel.